I was recently away (hence lack of posts) and I happened to pass through wine country. Needless to say, I found some charming little wineries, but what really blew me away was how beautiful these ones vines were. The leaves were golden, and were being blown, shimmering, up into the air.

‘Bon Hiver’ means ‘good winter’ ( that’s actually where Bon Iver got the name ), but I’m afraid to say that even though winters are mild here, they have a lonely and slow feeling to them, and I long for the spring. On one of the more sunny winter days, I decided to help spring along a little by making some new leaves for my tree. Perhaps the seasons will follow suite?

Though I live in ‘Darkest Africa’ , it is in rather a suburban and tame part of it. of course, this means no rogue lions, no mischievous monkeys and little or no vultures. Sitting at my desk I often look out and imagine that I catch glimpses of jungle creatures, and so yesterday I decided to make them a little bit more believable, with the help of a pair of scissors and an old animal book. It even gave me an idea for a design!

The other day I went to go and collect feathers for the making of a headdress, but I couldn’t NOT stop in and have a look at the birds at the bird zoo. the birds of prey were resplendent, and although it is sad to see them out of the wild, many are disabled ones that wouldn’t survive otherwise

I learned some hard lessons about woodcuts and oil based inks yesterday. my hands are stained with the reminders. for all the trouble, woodcuts are fantastic, especially in that you can try many different effects. I made these three to all link up, or ‘continue’ into each other, though each is a separate scene. They show the metamorphosis of a landscape, from being built on, to returning to it’s natural state